A four-time Pro Bowler who once was suspended for a full season for gambling, Karras went on to become an actor, starring in the sitcomWebster (Clark played his on-air wife) and cold-cocking a horse in Blazing Saddles.

Alex is getting a little fuzzy, but the horse he knocked out is still sharp as a tack.

imjinbrdgr says:Apr 12, 2012 7:45 PM

I watched hours and hours of NFL football. I have high cholesterol from all those chips and wings I ate. My back is a wreck from all those hours spent slumped into that sofa. My gut is still bloated from the hundreds of gallons of beer I drank. My wife left me because the only time on Sunday that I lost visual contact with the tube was for trips to the bathroom and the fridge. I WANT COMPENSATION!! ITS NOT RIGHT!! If they hadn’t made the game so exciting I wouldn’t have any on these problems. IT’S ALL THE LEAGUES FAULT

I’m not against the football players in this case but doesn’t it state somewhere in their contracts that they’ll be getting hit in the head time after time. I just want to understand if this is really about hundreds of players suffering from dimensia or something severe like that or is this just former players who are now broke and need some extra cash. If that’s the case, I’m sure Warren Sapp will be on that list pretty soon

joelvis72 says:Apr 12, 2012 7:54 PM

I wonder how many of his symptoms result from betting on NFL games while a player, and later from playing second fiddle to Emmanuel Lewis for 5 years on “Webster.”

imjinbrdgr says:Apr 12, 2012 7:58 PM

I remember seeing Karras on Johnny Carson bragging about how tough he was because he played in the NFL. What happened Alex? I guess you weren’t so tough after all.

Its so easy for all you scumbags who probably never even played hs ball to bash these old guys. You should all die horribLe , painful deaths like these guys are. Every NFL vet should have lifetime health coverage. Its the least that the $10,000,000,000 a year business can do! Please help these guys Mr. Commissioner!

momsasaynt says:Apr 12, 2012 8:37 PM

Does that make you all feel better making fun of a man who has dementia and gave football lovers countless hours of pleasure. This goes to show the multi billion $$ NFL cares little for old time players most who couldn’t afford the care they needed. It’s a crying shame.

Florio, please. How can anyone in the 21st century mention Alex Karras without making reference to 1) his role as Mongo, in one of the 10 funniest movies of all-time (Blazing Saddles) 2) his role as Kid to Golden Boy’s Butch Cassidy in the 1962 NFL gambling controversy, and 3) his refusal to call heads-or-tails in 1963 for an NFL coinflip, given his recent ban for gambling.

packhawk04 says:Apr 12, 2012 9:21 PM

Guys getting dementia due to playing a game, giving us pleasure, while getting paid a boatload of money to play a game and give us pleasure, while knowing that any play could be their last. Sorry. No sympathy here. I do have sympathy for the millions who have dementia who have no clue how they got it, and didnt get it because of playing a game they chose to play, entertaining me, and making millions while doing it.

Its so easy for all you scumbags who probably never even played hs ball to bash these old guys. You should all die horribLe , painful deaths like these guys are. Every NFL vet should have lifetime health coverage. Its the least that the $10,000,000,000 a year business can do! Please help these guys Mr. Commissioner!
________________

What about the current players helping out? They’ll really be helping themselves out. Deduct 5% of every player’s check and put it into a health care account. And every player doesn’t have to buy $250,000 worth of bling and an $8 million mansion. Some money could be set aside for future health care insurance costs and long-term care costs. Hey, if my wife and I can do it I know all of these players can as well.

Does that make you all feel better making fun of a man who has dementia and gave football lovers countless hours of pleasure.

——————————————————————

Funny thing is, when it comes to Bountygate, this same group of posters will act all indignant and self-righteous that the evil Saints actually tried to hurt their precious favorite players.

What a crock of crap. I’m ashamed for humanity just about every time I read this site.

I hope these concussion lawsuits destroy the NFL completely.

usmutts says:Apr 12, 2012 10:12 PM

I don’t know if Karras incurred head trauma sufficient to cause dementia. If so, I wish him wellness and justice. He was a great, great player.

My favorite memory of Karras’ football career is one in which he suffered a terrible blow. It was Nov. 8, 1970, in old Tulane Stadium when, with two seconds remaining and Karras’ Lions leading by one, Tom Dempsey kicked his world record 63 yard field goal to win it for the Saints. Karras looked as though someone had punched him and knocked him out. His chin dropped to his chest, then he fell to his knees, then on down to the turf. He did not take the loss lightly. You can check it out on YouTube. He’s number 71 on the 45 yard line.

Karras bet Paul Hornung 10 dollars on the game between them, much like friends do. $10. Some of you nitwits say he should have saved his money instead of gambling it away. What a bunch of losers! You probably spent 5X that amount on Mega Millions tickets. A $10 bet, and he catches garbage from know-nothings.

Trial was delayed a few times while officers complied with the plaintiff request that the courtroom be searched for Communist infiltrators. Then there was an uproar caused by the rumor sweeping the room that John Lennon was dead.

These lawsuits are so maddening to me…..These guys were well aware of the risks associated with football. What did they think getting smacked in the head time and time again would do to their brain? All they had to do was look at former boxers to see the affects. We have known to some extent what head trauma does to a person since the 1930’s. Fighters cannot barely speak by the time they retire due to head injuries and NFL players had to know they would suffer the same fate.

This guy Karras is 75 years old and has dementia. So do alot of 75 year olds. Hell Pat Summit is in her 50’s and had dementia.
These players all reaped the benefits of the NFL and its lucrative salaries. Now they are just looking to cash in on a guaranteed money grab.
Sickening.

imjinbrdgr says:Apr 12, 2012 11:04 PM

Karras bet Paul Hornung 10 dollars on the game between them, much like friends do. $10. Some of you nitwits say he should have saved his money instead of gambling it away. What a bunch of losers! You probably spent 5X that amount on Mega Millions tickets. A $10 bet, and he catches garbage from know-nothings.
________________________________
You are an idiot!

imjinbrdgr says:Apr 12, 2012 11:05 PM

broncosaddict says: Apr 12, 2012 9:40 PM

Telegram for Mongo! Telegram for Mongo!
____________________________-

It was a candygram. Another idiot

dumplingsrbrown says:Apr 12, 2012 11:59 PM

Seems vaguely familiar to all the lawsuits from smokers who didn’t realize that huffing smoke into their lungs for 30 years might be detrimental to their health. Good ol’ USA! Life, liberty and the pursuit of someone else’s money when we don’t want to accept responsibility for our own actions and behaviors!

andyreiddoublecheeseburger says:Apr 13, 2012 12:05 AM

Mongo only pawn in game of life

autumnwind999 says:Apr 13, 2012 1:02 AM

Thumbs up if you thought PFT was going to use a photo from “Webster” when you read the headline.

wayne1693 says:Apr 13, 2012 6:38 AM

During her prime, Susan Clark was one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL actresses, especially her green eyes. If you don’t believe me, check out COOGAN’S BLUFF starring CLINT EASTWOOD.

Karras was one of the all-time greats. He made mistakes but that doesn’t diminish his accomplishments. When he played little was known about the long-term effects of concussions. These guys were told to “play through it”. Now that we recognize the damage concussions do, remember Kris Dielman?, we should also recognize what the league owes guys like Karras. Dementia is caused by many things but clearly head truama is a leading cause in athletes. Lighten up on him, he’s sick and football did it.

wow!! really!!??
candygram/telegram, its an almost 40 year old movie, I’m getting old and forgetting things .

If thats all it takes to be an idiot in your books, you must be constantly pissed off and hate everyone around you. You have to remember that we are not all perfect nor do we have an eidetic memory….do you?

you didnt use any punctuation at the end of your sentence nor did you double space after the one period you did use.

I’m sure I have errors throughout my post, but I’m not the one calling people idiots.

You should make sure your meeting such a loft standard of perfection before you attempt to hold someone else to it….much less attempt to ridicule them.

wow!! really!!??
candygram/telegram, its an almost 40 year old movie, I’m getting old and forgetting things .

If thats all it takes to be an idiot in your books, you must be constantly pissed off and hate everyone around you. You have to remember that we are not all perfect nor do we have an eidetic memory….do you?

you didnt use any punctuation at the end of your sentence nor did you double space after the one period you did use.

I’m sure I have errors throughout my post, but I’m not the one calling people idiots.
(dont worry, I dont think your an idiot because you made a mistake)

You should make sure your meeting such a lofty standard of perfection before you attempt to hold someone else to it….much less attempt to ridicule them.

9ty9 says:Apr 13, 2012 9:00 AM

There is more than anecdotal evidence that NFL players suffer much higher rates of dementia than the rest of us. Google “rate of dementia former nfl players”.

The problem that arises is how do you attribute a specific case of dementia to actions taken as a player versus another unrelated cause.